Schneiderlin has been at Southampton for six years since signing from Strasbourg in 2008.

Having made over 200 appearances for the Saints, 24-year-old Schneiderlin clearly feels he should be granted the chance to join Spurs.

Krueger’s bold words are unlikely to put Tottenham off in their pursuit of Schneiderlin and Rodriguez, but both men may need to hand in official transfer requests to force through moves.

It remains to be seen whether Southampton now take disciplinary action against Schneiderlin, but the player is likely to be asked to explain his outburst. Rodriguez has already turned down a contract extension.

Asked about Schneiderlin and Rodriguez, Krueger said: “They’re part of the core that we have the intention of keeping at Southampton.

“They’re not for sale and are part of the club entering the season, in and around the rest of the core players excited to build forward. They are not for sale that is correct. September 1 will be the Judgement Day.

“We have a clear strategic approach to this summer and didn’t put any player up for sale. We said we would watch the process, listen and look at how the team was going to evolve.

“It's quite clear that multiple players were interested in taking a short-cut to Champions League football. We set premiums on those players and reached those premiums.

“It was in the best interests of the club and our re-build to make those deals and continue to build forward with players and a team that wanted to go the hard way into Europe.

“There was interest in our players before the World Cup and our executive worked to put deals together to give us a strong position to reinvest and build.

“We're excited to continue the rebuilding process. In the next few weeks we'll have players coming in and we will make transfers to strengthen the squad.

“We understand the frustrations of the fans, but we needed to stay silent to bring the best deals for the club.”

Although Schneiderlin’s tweet was more bad news for Southampton supporters, the club are hoping to complete the signings of goalkeeper Fraser Forster and defender Marcos Rojo.

Having already sold Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren and Calum Chambers, Southampton are in desperate need of new players.

The club are in negotiations with Celtic over England’s third-choice goalkeeper Forster, but the Scottish club are reluctant to sell until they have played their Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw with the second leg on August 6.

Southampton have already had one bid for Forster rejected, but are hopeful of eventually landing the 26-year-old for around £6 million.

Rojo played at left-back for Argentina in the World Cup, but can also play in the centre of defence and would plug the gap left by Lovren’s departure to Liverpool.

Sporting Lisbon are understood to be demanding around £12m for Rojo, which Southampton can comfortably afford and the 24-year-old is keen on a move to England.